TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography education
T2 - Perspective of students and educators from a low resource setting
AU - Ofori-Manteaw, Bismark Bright
AU - Dzidzornu, Elizabeth
AU - Akudjedu, Theophilus N.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on clinical radiography educational activities including teaching, research, and clinical placement. The study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography education in a low-resource setting from the perspectives of students and educators. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between December 2020 and March 2021. Participants included student radiographers and educators from six clinical radiography training institutions in Ghana. Conventional descriptive statistics, frequency, and thematic text analysis were undertaken. Results: 291 valid responses were received involving 277 students and 14 educators. Most of the respondents, predominantly students did not find the online platforms for learning user-friendly. Key challenges to clinical radiography training during the pandemic included poor internet connectivity (73.8%), inadequate time for academic discussions (50.9%), and the reluctance of health facilities to accept students for clinical placement (51%). Challenges with data collection and the provision of supervision were issues associated with research activities. Discussion: The findings suggest the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on clinical radiography education in Ghana and other countries of similar resource availability. Conclusion: Clinical radiography training institutions need to customize approaches to education. Adopting blended learning approaches as well as the use of simulation to augment practical placement opportunities are new modes of instruction that will maximize learning experience.
AB - Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on clinical radiography educational activities including teaching, research, and clinical placement. The study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography education in a low-resource setting from the perspectives of students and educators. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between December 2020 and March 2021. Participants included student radiographers and educators from six clinical radiography training institutions in Ghana. Conventional descriptive statistics, frequency, and thematic text analysis were undertaken. Results: 291 valid responses were received involving 277 students and 14 educators. Most of the respondents, predominantly students did not find the online platforms for learning user-friendly. Key challenges to clinical radiography training during the pandemic included poor internet connectivity (73.8%), inadequate time for academic discussions (50.9%), and the reluctance of health facilities to accept students for clinical placement (51%). Challenges with data collection and the provision of supervision were issues associated with research activities. Discussion: The findings suggest the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on clinical radiography education in Ghana and other countries of similar resource availability. Conclusion: Clinical radiography training institutions need to customize approaches to education. Adopting blended learning approaches as well as the use of simulation to augment practical placement opportunities are new modes of instruction that will maximize learning experience.
KW - COVID-19
KW - educators
KW - radiography
KW - students
KW - virtual learning
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jmir.2021.11.002
DO - 10.1016/j.jmir.2021.11.002
M3 - Article
C2 - 34857497
AN - SCOPUS:85121121829
SN - 1939-8654
VL - 53
SP - 51
EP - 57
JO - Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences
JF - Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences
IS - 1
ER -